Month: October 2017

One thing I love here is that whenever you are walking down the street people always smile and some even say “Hello, Sister Ashby!” I just assume they are members of the church but to my surprise, many are not! They are just friendly and welcoming and that is a wonderful thing for a new person just starting to live in a new country.

Speaking of living in a new country…..The driving here is backwards and very interesting to get used to! The steering wheel is on the wrong side and not only that, they drive on the wrong side of the road! Every time John turns on his blinker to make a turn, the windshield wipers go on! Mind you, we have the cleanest windshield in our neighborhood! One good person gave us some advice to live by when driving: Keep to the left and you will be right! Hmmmm, yes, I had to think about that for a while too! So far, no wrecks but I have held my breath a few times when I thought a car was coming at us from the wrong direction!

Sunday, October 22nd we attended the Massey Park Ward in Papatoetoe. The LDS church buildings here are not quite like ours back in the States. They are all pretty much the same and are white, rather square looking buildings, that are surrounded by white wrought iron fences.Most have some kind of a spire and that helps to identify them.  Of course we have not seen them all yet but those in this area all seem to be the same.

We were very excited to go to our first meetings in New Zealand and left plenty early so we would not be late. As we walked in the door the young missionary companionship assigned to this ward saw us and welcomed us. One of them was a “greenie” just like us and had landed here last Wednesday on the same flight we came on. Elder Wilkinson was a bit nervous because he had been asked to speak today and being brand new, he was a little stressed. I asked him later how he was doing and he said that everything was so new and different and he was feeling very homesick right now. I told him I understood his feeling as I was that way on our first mission to Romania. It is something you can’t help even when you tell yourself you are being silly. I reassured him that everything would be all right in time but if he wanted to he could call us anytime and we could talk about it! He seemed a little relieved a that and I was glad. His talk went fine, albeit, it was short! He is really a nice young man and is excited to get on with the work of being a missionary.

While talking to the missionaries, someone came and told us the Bishop wanted to see us right a way in his office. Cool! We would get to meet the Bishop and this was not a  disappointment. He is a  big Tongan man with an even bigger smile. I can’t even pronounce his name let alone remember it, but give me time and I will! He asked us to tell him all about ourselves; who we were, where we came from and about our family. He then told us about his family and immediately afterwards (much to my dismay!) informed us that he had canceled the main speaker in Sacrament meeting and we would be the speakers. Whoa! That took me back! John did not seem troubled by this at all but my mind started whirling like crazy wondering what I was going to say! He told us not to worry as we only had 25 minutes to speak and since John assured me that he was not about to take 24 of those minutes I had to do some fast thinking and praying for a little heavenly help!! He made us sit on the stand and while smiling at people and shaking hands my mind was doing some heavy thinking!

I actually loved looking down at the congregation. I think all of them were Polynesian and all of them were smiling at us! I have never seen so many smiles in one place! It must be a national tradition for this country!

There were big bouquets of flowers all over the podium and stand. I later asked a lady if they had had a funeral in the ward this week because of all the flowers. She gave me a funny look and said, “No, each week we assign all the visiting teaching companionships  to do the flowers. They love it and it gives them something to do where they can visit and be together with each other besides doing their visiting teaching.”                                            “Oh, of course,” I said, like it was done this way everywhere in the church! They really were beautiful and so nice to look at!

The other fun thing was that this is the first time I have ever had a deacon pass me the Sacrament in a skirt! I know it is part of their culture and I respect that but it was a bit of a surprise.

Our talks went well. I have to say that the Lord really does bless you to be able to fulfill your callings when you try your best to do so! He takes up the slack and blesses you with thoughts and impressions to be able to do the things required of you. This little experience was another testimony to me of that blessing.

We attended all the meetings and emjoyed being a part of their Sunday classes. Both of us met a lot of people and tried really hard to remember their names. Two single sisters were very friendly to me and I told them they were my first new friends in New Zealand! They loved that but like many others, I had a hard time pronouncing their names! They told me to just call them “P” and “G” and insisted that others do that too!

After church we turned on our GPS and drove to the city for an appointment with President and Sister Walker. He wanted to meet and interview us so he could decide where to put us. The mission home here is very lovely and sits on a lake even though it is pretty much in the city suburbs. Of course water is every where around here and I really love that.

We visited with the President and his wife for almost two hours. John and he had a lot in common when talking about running a mission. They were very interested in our back ground, family and former mission experiences. President and Sister Walker are from Hawaii where he has worked for the church in administration at the Polynesian cultural center for most of his career. Sister Walker is from Japan and they met at BYU Hawaii. They had a lot in common since he went on his mission to Japan. In fact, when they got their call to serve as mission president here they thought for sure it would be in Japan because of their connections there and the fact that they are both fluent in Japanese. However, it was not to be! I really do believe the Lord knows where he wants each of us to serve and sends us where we are needed even though we may not be able to see the reason for it in the beginning. The Walkers are no exception to this.

John and I thought we would get our assignment today but it didn’t quite work out that way. The President is still not sure where he wants us which means we could be moving again! What he did ask us to do was to go on an “exploritory” trip to the north of the island. There are two Stakes up north with branches and wards in them. Some of the congregations are very small. There are about 24 missionaries serving up there and no senior couples. He wants us to visit the Stake presidents and bishops and get an idea of what is going on in these areas with missionary work. We are also to visit the young missionaries and get their input. We are going to take a week to do this and hopefully go to church in two different wards. When we get back we will report back to President Walker.

You have to know that the Cook islands and  one other small island are a part of our mission. When the President goes to the Cook Islands for mission business it is a four hour plane ride! He said he is half way to Hawaii by the time he gets there! He has a lot of missionaries and territory to cover and this trip he has assigned us to do will help him get the information he needs to make some decisions for the northern parts of this island. We look forward to the trip as we know it is basically country driving and everyone says it is very beautiful up there.

For now we ae still in the Papatoetoe area and enjoying it very much. Around this area is where the biggest concentration of members live. The young missionaries love serving here.

On Tuesday we went to our District meeting and met the missionaries we are serving with. There are three elder companionships and one sister companionship. Our District leader is Tongan and he conducted the meeting. His name is Elder Molimoli. Typical of their culture, he had a huge smile and was very welcoming but we could barely understand a word he said! I told him I would be glad when I learned the English language here! They thought that was funny but in our group we had a sister from Australia, one from the Ukraine, an elder from Malaysia, two from Utah and another Tongan. The group is pretty diverse and all of them had  o get the accent down here!

The meeting went really well but in the middle of the lesson John got a call from the mission office asking us to go to the Auckland City hospital to give a young woman a blessing who was going into surgery in a few hours. Thank goodness we took two elders with us! We got to the hospital all right but it is combined with the University here and different patients are in different buildings! It was a task just getting parked but we managed to do it.

When we got in the building we were in a hurry and I saw a guy with a badge on and asked him if he worked here. He hesitated and looked at me rather funny and then said yes and asked me how he could help. I asked him to show us where a certain ward was and how to find the rooms in there. He smiled and walked with us and showed us the way to go. As he said good-bye I realized he had a stethoscope around his neck and very likely was a doctor! That’s probably why I got the funny look! At least he was humble enough to help!

The girl we gave a blessing to is an American named Carman Kimber and is from Cedar, Utah. She has been working in Auckland for the last year and Australia before that. She just wanted to get away and have an adventure and she has! Somehow she got this huge cyst on her leg and it became so painful she couldn’t walk. The doctors said they had to operate and she wanted a blessing before they did.

John pronounced the blessing and she seemed very comforted by it. We checked up on her the next day and she said the surgery went well but they were still waiting for the lab results and would keep her on antibiotics and in the hospital for a couple of days.

After giving Carman a blessing and visiting with her for about 45 minutes we left to go back to Papatoetoe and since all of us were starving, the elders talked us into stopping for lunch at an Indian restaurant and getting some Butter Chicken. This is a favorite around here and they wanted us to try it. Let me just say, it was very good but way too spicy for me! The guys all loved it and I am sure John will want it again!

The LDS visitor’s Center below the temple

One other thing we did this week was to go to the New Zealand temple in Hamilton. It is actually out of our mission area but we had a day with nothing scheduled so we decided we had to find it and attend a session. It ended up being about two hours south of where we live and the drive was through rolling, green hills with lots of trees and a big river running along the side of the road. I asked someone where the movie, “The Lord of The Rings” was filmed and they laughed and said it was done in about 14 different places. However, they said that Hobbiton, with the Hobbit houses, is in Hamilton and we decided we would have to visit it some day.

The temple experience was awesome. It is different than any other temple we have been to but very beautiful. It felt really good to be able to go. We know we may not get the opportunity very often so this trip was special and one we were grateful for.

If any of my family is getting bored reading this just remember that this blog is a journal for us! We love sharing it with you but please don’t mind the detail I put into it!

 

 

Well, we made it. The Saturday and Sunday before we left were hectic! We were trying to put things away in the house, pack for a year and a half and say good-bye to people we care about! There wasn’t time to do any of that properly! We thought we were organized  but no matter how well you prepare, things always come up that you hadn’t planned on! But, by Monday morning, October 16th, we left! Ready or not we were on our way!

We ended up leaving an hour earlier because John decided he had to buy a new pair of the running shoes he likes! Now why couldn’t he have done this last month or the month before? I don’t know. I guess it’s related to the way he goes Christmas shopping…..Christmas eve he panic’s and realizes he’d better get out and do his shopping! Buying his shoes on the way to the airport was actually not surprising to me!

On the way we stopped at Nikki’s house and said good-bye to her family. I hate good-bye’s but we really wanted to stop and we will definitely miss all of our family! Brandon dropped us off and quickly left as he was a little too emotional to hang around very long!

In short, our flight to San Francisco, and then on to New Zealand, was without incident. The best thing that happened was while waiting at the gate in California for our flight to Auckland. There was a big group of New Zealand kids there also waiting to catch the same flight home. Suddenly they started singing a beautiful Maori song. Their harmony was amazing and it filled the airport halls where people stopped, froze in place, and listened.  Of course we were some of those people! W decided they must be a singing group from New Zealand. After their song ended all the young men started to perform a Maori chant. It kind of reminded me of the Haka but it was different. We loved it and everyone gave them a big cheer and loud clapping.

While standing in line to get on the plane I got talking to two of these young people and asked them if they were a singing group. They laughed and said no.

“We were chosen by our tribe, from different parts of the land, to go to America for a special educational experience, mostly in Silicon Valley.”

It was my turn to be surprised! They all were Maori and love the traditional songs of their culture. I am finding that they love to sing here and their singing was definitely a manifestation of that love. It was a real treat for us just before our long flight to a new land.

Suffice it to say that the flight was tiring, over 13 hours and even though it was during the night, it did not seem much shorter! Sleeping on a plane is not the easiest thing in the world to do! The most interesting thing about it is that we got on the plane Monday night and after watching movies and trying to sleep, got off the plane at 6:30 in the morning in Auckland. However, it was Wednesday morning and not Tuesday! I believe this is the closest I will ever come to “time travel! Not exactly the Star Trek Enterprise but pretty cool anyway!

President Walker and his wife met us at the airport and the office couple, the Stahle’s, drove us to our new apartment. The area office doctor’s wife was with them and she too came and helped us. They were all very kind and excited to get to know us. Of course that made us feel good!

When we got to our apartment we were pleased to see that it was in a gated and safe complex. The apartment is quite new, albeit very small! It has two bedroom and one bath but if the whole place is 800 square feet I would be surprised.  After getting our luggage in the apartment, the office couple took us down the street to where we could get some milk, bread and eggs and a few things to get us started. We asked them if they would like to stop and get some lunch since we felt like it must have been about 2:00 in the afternoon by then and we were starving. They looked at us rather funny and reminded us that it was only  7:30 in the morning and nothing was open! Duh! We should have know that! Instead we went back to our apartment and ate some of the groceries we bought. We were grateful for the help we had in getting settled and are very thankful to have a nice place to live in. The only disadvantage is that neither John nor I have any place we can hide from each other here! Oh well, this is not new to us as we have lived in tiny apartments before!

The next few days consisted of getting settled and John catching the flu! Where he got it we don’t know but it ran it’s course and he managed to feel better after a couple of days. It was a good thing the President gave us these days to get settled before bringing us into the office for an interview. If John had to get the flu the timing was perfect! It would have been a big hassle on the plane!

Recovering from the flu, John was given a bottle of New Zealand’s favorite soft drink! L & P is the name of it and he was told it would do wonders for him! He did try it and yes, we both like it! Our first taste of something new and different!

All I can say now is that we are ready to go to work and anxious to get our assignment!

 

 

Monday, October 9th, we entered the Missionary Training Center to begin our week-long training for our mission. Even though we have been there two other times it was different this time because of the intense training from the Preach My Gospel manual. We loved it and really enjoyed the teachers that were assigned to us.  After getting our supplies, and joining all the other senior couples that are in the MTC this week, for an orientation meeting, we were divided into Districts and met our teachers for the week. From there each District went to a classroom that would be our “home” for the next five days!

Our District: The Williams, the Haakes, our smart young teacher – Jackson Haight,  the Ashby’s and the Hamm’s.

Basically, we got to know each other and learned how to teach, use the gospel apps on our media devices,  and then practice on each other the skills we learned.

Our teachers were all young, returned missionaries and I have to admit that they were very sharp! It is always amazing to see how the confidence and teaching abilities of these young people change as they go out into the world and learn the skills they did while serving as missionaries themselves. They come home better prepared for college and with abilities that will help them for the rest of their lives and believe me, those abilities were very evident this past week!

One of my favorite activities was to go outside and randomly stop other missionaries at the MTC and practice being missionaries on them. We met a lot of fun new missionaries who were as excited about their assignments and training as we were.  We ate our meals with them in the cafeteria and experienced their excitement along with our own. 

I won’t go into much detail about all of this but I would like to mention two special things. The first was that we happened to be in the MTC on the day President Eyring dedicated the new MTC buildings. There was a special devotional for this and Elder Holland and several other general authorities were there with us.

The second experience involves one of our practice teaching activities. This reiterated to us how the spirit is in this work and the Lord uses us to be instruments in His hands to help others

The last day we were there we were told we had to take the skills we had learned this week and go teach a random person from Provo who had agreed to come to the MTC so missionaries could practice on them. Some of these people are members of the church, others are not. We were told we would have 15 minutes with the person to make introductions and get to know each other. Then the person would leave the room for ten minutes and during that time we needed to prepare a lesson that would be beneficial to them. They would then return to the room and we would have 15 minutes to give them our lesson.

I was a little nervous about this but of course John was not! We ended up with a cute lady with a big smile. She is a member of the church. We found out she has been married for 11 years and when we asked about children she told us her two dogs and a cat are her children. She has tried to have kids but had no luck. We also learned she and her husband are now students after having lost everything when living in Germany and a contractor took the money they gave him to build them a house on a piece of property they had bought. She wanted to know about us too so we didn’t learn to much more than that about her.

When she left the room John and I decided we needed to talk about trials and how our Heavenly Father is always there for us. Ten minutes isn’t much time to prepare a lesson but I found a video called “The Will of God” and a scripture I felt would go along with it. John found a scripture and thought of a personal story.

Long story short, when she came back in the room we showed her the video and then I asked her to read the scripture I felt would help her. She liked the video and as she started to read the scripture she choked up and started to cry. She turned to us and said that this scripture was the very one she was pondering this week to help her. She said that she was memorizing it because it had touched her so much.

Of course we were surprised and also touched. John finished the lesson with his story and she thanked us very much for what we had both said to comfort and help her.

My point in this is that I had no clue why I chose the scripture I did, nor did John know why he picked the personal experience he did, but they were both exactly what she needed. She told us that this was real for her and not just a practice lesson. I know that God is aware of us and our problems. He loves us and uses others to be instruments in His hands to help lift us and get us through our struggles and questions. To us this was a manifestation of the good we can do as missionaries and we were grateful to end our week with an experience that shows the power of serving others.

This is 1/4 of the couples who attended the MTC with us this week. John and I are in the middle.

 

 

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Sunday, October 9th, John and I went to he Sake offices to be set-apart for our mission. President Wilding started the meeting by asking John and I to bear our testimonies. Of course I went first. I was glad I didn’t know about this as I probably would have stressed about it before hand! I told my feelings about being a missionary and doing the Lord’s work and then talked about love and how I desired to love all people the same way the Savior loves us. I told how I do have a testimony of Him and am so glad I know that He lives, He loves us and He is our Redeemer. Without him we could never make it back to our Heavenly Father.
John talked about the first time we went on a mission and how Bishop Cotterell  asked us to set a goal for a mission and we agreed to do so. Boy did our life change after that! When the Lord knows you are willing and ready he opens doors for you to serve! John told how not long after that he knew it was time to sell his business and be a missionary. He got a lot of tears as he talked about what serving these missions meant to us, and said how this time both of us were inspired at the same time and that this is the time we are supposed to go serve again. He too gave a testimony of the Savior.
Afterwards, President Wilding set me apart to be a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. John, Brandon and Doug joined him in the setting-apart. President Wilding gave me a beautiful blessing and I think Emilie was trying to write it down!  I shed tears during the blessing and was touched by what the Lord said to me. When he finished, this feeling came over me that now I am truly a missionary again and I was excited to move forward with our mission. I hugged everyone and then sat down to listen to John’s setting apart.  Emilie pushed a piece of paper over to me and told me to try and record it along with her doing so. I did my best and then gave it back to her afterwards. He too received a very beautiful blessing!

The Stake Executive Secretary took our photo and then printed out our picture and put a magnet on the back and had us put it on a big map of the world that is in the Stake office. We put it right over New Zealand and are now on the Stake missionary map right along with our grandson Alex! Of course his picture is over Hawaii but it is awesome just to be on that missionary map with him! It is so cool to be serving a mission at the same time as one of our close family members.